LAKE COUNTY — Put another regular season in the books for Lake County high school football. Upper Lake certainly did so in style Friday night by knocking off South Fork 36-0 in Miranda to claim the North Central League II championship.
Upper Lake and Kelseyville, a 6-0 winner over Lower Lake, ended their respective league seasons on a high note while Middletown and Clear Lake lost in NCL I action — Middletown 35-7 at St. Helena and Clear Lake 26-12 against Cloverdale in Lakeport — in their regular-season finales.
Upper Lake, Clear Lake and Middletown are all advancing to the North Coast Section playoffs beginning this Friday night (see related story for more details).
The Cougars’ league title is their first since 2015, they’re inaugural year of eight-man football, when they played in the NCL III under then-coach Frank Gudmundson.
Following are some of the highlights and lowlights from Week 11 action:
Statistics
Rushing — Upper Lake’s Cody Banks gained 75 yards on 12 carries with a touchdown against South Fork. Middletown’s Brandon Costlow finished with 53 yards on 10 carries and a TD against St. Helena. Kelseyville’s Sam Vanoven had 51 yards on nine carries against Lower Lake.
Passing — Clear Lake’s Jack Daskam went 16-for-26 for 285 yards and two touchdowns in a loss to Cloverdale. Upper Lake freshman Jerod Rosales completed 9 of 12 passes for 144 yards and three TDs against South Fork.
Receiving — A trio of Clear Lake receivers led the way in Week 11. Tyler Haskell had four catches for 86 yards and a TD, Jake Soderquist caught two passes for 83 yards and a TD, and Zane Robinson had six receptions for 68 yards. Upper Lake’s Kyle Grandi had two touchdown grabs among his three receptions for 64 yards.
Special teams
Unintentional offsides kick — After Upper Lake scored to go up 7-0 on South Fork early in the first quarter, the Cougars’ Will Henry booted an unintentional low liner on the ensuring kickoff that hit one of South Fork’s up-men and ricocheted back to Upper Lake’s Luke Summerfield, who recovered the ball. The Cougars went on to score again for a 14-0 lead.
Defense
Seventh heaven — Upper Lake’s Joey Franklin sacked South Fork’s quarterback seven times, including on the final play of the game that produced a fumble Will Henry scooped up and returned 35 yards for a touchdown. Upper Lake had nine sacks overall against South Fork.
Making a stand — Upper Lake stopped South Fork inside the Cougars’ 5-yard-line in the first quarter, a momentum-swinging goal-line stand. Clear Lake also had a goal-line stand early on against Cloverdale although the Eagles returned the favor later in the game.
Good night — Kelseyville sophomore JoseCarmen Calvillo had seven unassisted tackles, one assist, one sack and a fumble recovery against Lower Lake. Zayne Barker also had seven solo stops for the Knights and Steven Frace six.
Shutout streak — Upper Lake’s defense hasn’t allowed a point in its last three games and only six points in its last four.
Miscellaneous
First completion — Kelseyville freshman quarterback Tyler Bryant attempted only one pass and completed it in the Knights’ win over Lower Lake. It was his first varsity completion.
Take your pick — There are three different first-round home playoff games in the county on Friday night as Upper Lake hosts Cornerstone Christian (Antioch), Middletown hosts Pinole Valley (Pinole) and Clear Lake hosts Hoopa.
Soccer kudos — Upper Lake’s girls soccer team is home Wednesday night against St. Bernard (Eureka) in the North Coast Section Division 3 championship game. It’s a battle of the top two seeds in Division 3 although the No. 1-seeded Cougars will be without their top scorer, senior forward Karlee Zimmerschied, who sustained a broken ankle after a violent collision with the South Fork keeper in a 4-0 semifinal-round win Saturday night in Upper Lake. Game time is 7 p.m.
No at-large bid — Despite a 20-win season, Clear Lake’s volleyball squad was denied an at-large berth in the NorCal Division 5 playoffs that begin Tuesday night. The Cardinals reached the quarterfinal round of the sectional playoffs before losing to Urban of San Francisco. Urban is the No. 11 seed in the 16-team NorCal field, which means the competition is pretty darn tough.
All-League — All-League selections are now tied to how many league wins each team has, which helps eliminate the problem of schools with weaker records getting more All-League picks than teams with better records.
CMC championships — Cross country runners meet at Spring Lake in Santa Rosa on Wednesday afternoon to determine team champions in the NCL I and NCL II as well as All-Conference selections. Clear Lake sophomore Hannah Garrity figures to be a contender for overall girls champion and Middletown’s girls team is gunning for another NCL I title.
Don’t look now … — But the Lower Lake girls basketball teams are home Saturday to play Healdsburg in non-league action beginning at 1:30 p.m.
